Iowa power forward Chris Tadjo enters NCAA Transfer Portal

Iowa power forward Chris Tadjo officially entered the NCAA Transfer Portal on Thursday evening, according to On3’s Jamie Shaw. In six games played, he averaged 4.2 minutes, 1.2 points, and 0.8 rebounds. Tadjo played a season-high of 10 minutes against New Hampshire, stuffing the stat sheet with five points and four rebounds.

Tadjo is originally from Africa, but he moved to Montreal, Canada. He was rated a four-star prospect coming out of high school by the experts at On3. He was also tabbed as the No. 197 overall player in the country and the No. 37 player at the power forward position, according to the On3 Industry Rankings for the 2024 cycle.

In high school, he attended the NBA Academy in Latin America–an elite basketball training program for basketball prospects from Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, South America, and Canada. Tadjo was the two-time Most Valuable Player of the All-Canadian Games. He posted a double-double (25 points, 16 rebounds) playing for the White Team in 2023.

Iowa hires Ben McCollum as head coach

The Iowa Hawkeyes have found their next men’s basketball coach. Ben McCollum, who was previously the head coach of the Drake Bulldogs, has agreed to a deal to lead the Hawkeyes program moving forward, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

“Sources: Iowa has agreed to a deal to make Drake coach Ben McCollum the school’s next coach, per me and ⁦@jeffborzello⁩. He won four Division II national titles at Northwest Missouri State prior to leading Drake (31-4) to the NCAA Tournament in his lone season there,” Thamel posted on X.

McCollum will replace Fran McCaffery, who had been at Iowa since 2010. During that time, the Hawkeyes were able to the NCAA Tournament seven times. That includes three times in the past four seasons and they never made it past the Round of 32. The decision to move on from McCaffery also came following a season where they finished tied for 12th in the Big Ten standings and had a 17-16 overall record.

For his part, Ben McCollum has been seen as a rising name in the college coaching ranks. From 2009-2024, he led Northwest Missouri State, a Division II program. While there, he had a 395-91 record, which is a .813 winning percentage to go along with four national championships. Those came in a six-season stretch that included a pandemic-impacted season in which his team was a favorite once again. Prior to that, McCollum was an assistant coach at Emporia State and Northwest Missouri State.

McCollum is an Iowa native, having been born in Iowa City and growing up in Storm Lake. As a player, he began his career at North Iowa Area Community College before making the jump to Northwest Missouri State. So, he has plenty of clear ties to the region. 

On3’s Steve Samra and Dan Morrison also contributed to this article.